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US applications for jobless benefits rise

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but not enough to raise concern about the labor market or broader economy.Jobless claims rose to 218,000 for the week ending Dec. 23, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell by 250 to 212,000.Overall, 1.88 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended Dec. 16, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week.Weekly unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have remained at extraordinarily low levels in the face of high interest rates.The Federal Reserve started raising interest rates early last year to try to beat down the inflation that surged after an unusually strong economic rebound from the COVID-19 recession of 2020. The Fed has raised its benchmark rate 11 times since March of 2022.Inflation has eased, but remains slightly above the Fed’s 2% target...

Quarterback Thomas Castellanos fuels BC’s upset over SMU

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

Boston College spoiled SMU’s coming out party in the Atlantic Coast Conference.Eagles quarterback Thomas Castellanos rushed for 156 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns to lead BC to a 23-14 upset over No. 17 SMU in the second annual Wasabi Fenway Bowl on a soggy Thursday afternoon at Fenway Park.The sophomore from Waycross, Ga., also completed 11 passes for 102 yards to secure offensive MVP honors. BC linebacker Kam Arnold had six tackles, two TFL’s and the game’s only sack to earn defensive MVP honors. Both players were presented with silver baseball bats for their efforts.BC improved to 7-6 with it first bowl win since 2016 while SMU fell to 11-3. SMU entered the game averaging 40.62 points and 466.6 yards per game, but the BC defense held them to 309 yards of total offense and 22 rushing yards.“To end the season like that with a bowl win over a ranked team like that when really nobody gave us a chance, let’s just be honest it is special,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley. “It will b...

Popular smoothie blender recalled 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

BlendJet is recalling about 4.8 million of its portable blenders over laceration and fire hazards after receiving dozens of reports of injuries, federal regulators said Thursday.BlendJet 2 Portable Blenders can overheat or catch fire, according to a notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and their blender blades can break off during use.There have been 329 reports of blades breaking during use to date, the CPSC said, as well as 17 additional reports of overheating or fires that resulted in about $150,000 of property damage claims. The company has also received 49 reports of minor burn injuries and one reported laceration injury.Regulators urged consumers to stop using the recalled blenders immediately and contact BlendJet for a free base unit replacement. To receive the replacement part, customers will need to remove and cut up the base’s rubber seal and email or upload a photo using BlendJet’s website.BlendJet said in a prepared statement that the reca...

Ticker: Here come the Amazon ads; World population up 75 million this year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

If you are an Amazon Prime Video user, get ready to see ads on movies and TV shows starting next month.Prime will include ads beginning on Jan. 29, the company said in an email to U.S. members this week, setting a date for an announcement it made back in September. Prime members who want to keep their movies and TV shows ad-free will have to pay an additional $2.99.Amazon is also planning to include advertisements in its Prime service in the United Kingdom and other European countries, as well as Canada, Mexico and Australia next year.The ads, the company said, “will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.”World population up 75 million this yearThe world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year’s Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.The worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1...

Patriots Christian Barmore reluctantly acknowledges he just had his best game

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was initially reluctant to call Sunday night’s win over the Broncos the best game of his NFL career.Barmore sacked Broncos QB Russell Wilson three times in the 26-23 win. One of those was a strip sack, and he also had a QB hit and two tackles for loss.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots OC Bill O’Brien once advised Alabama QB Jalen Milroe to change positions New England Patriots | Patriots-Bills injury report: Ezekiel Elliott out with new ailment Thursday New England Patriots | Patriots offense gets mixed news at Thursday practice New England Patriots | Callahan: The overlooked, underrated Patriot tying Bill Belichick’s secondary together New England Patriots | When Bailey Zappe started getting more comfortable in Patriots’ new offense “No. Keep going. There were some plays I wish I could have had,” Barmore told r...

Patriots OC Bill O’Brien once advised Alabama QB Jalen Milroe to change positions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

As Alabama gets set to take on Michigan in the Rose Bowl on Monday, Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien caught a stray from Crimson Tide QB Jalen Milroe.“Shoot, my own offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said I shouldn’t play quarterback,” Milroe told reporters in Los Angeles on Thursday before the opening round of the College Football Playoff. “He told me a bunch of positions I could have switched to but look where I’m at right now. So who gets the last laugh?”Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots Christian Barmore reluctantly acknowledges he just had his best game New England Patriots | Patriots-Bills injury report: Ezekiel Elliott out with new ailment Thursday New England Patriots | Patriots offense gets mixed news at Thursday practice New England Patriots | Callahan: The overlooked, underrated Patriot tying Bill Belichick’s secondary together New...

Patriots-Bills injury report: Ezekiel Elliott out with new ailment Thursday

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott missed practice Thursday with an illness and was one of five players to sit out.Left tackle Trent Brown did not participate for a second day due to illness, though he was present for the start of practice. Safeties Jalen Mills and Jabrill Peppers were out for a second straight day. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was sidelined by a lingering ankle injury.In Buffalo, Bills edge defenders Leonard Floyd and Von Miller both practiced after resting on Wednesday. Both teams’ complete injury reports are below.PATRIOTSDid not participateOT Trent Brown, IllnessRB Ezekiel Elliott, IllnessS Jalen Mills, ConcussionS Jabrill Peppers, HamstringWR JuJu Smith-Schuster, AnkleLimited participationDL Christian Barmore, KneeLB Ja’Whaun Bentley, KneeDB Myles Bryant, ChestTE Hunter Henry, KneeLB Anfernee Jennings, KneeCB Jonathan Jones, KneeSpT Matthew Slater, HamstringCB Shaun Wade, HipFull participationT Tyrone Wheatley, KneeBUFFALODid not participate...

Weight loss meds raise new cost questions for Medicare

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

WASHINGTON — New obesity drugs are showing promising results in helping some people shed pounds but the injections remain out of reach for millions of older Americans because Medicare is forbidden to cover such medications.Now drugmakers and a wide-ranging and growing bipartisan coalition of lawmakers are gearing up to push for that to change next year.As obesity rates rise among older adults, the lawmakers say the United States cannot afford to keep a decades-old law that prohibits Medicare from paying for new weight loss drugs on the books.The Food and Drug Administration has in recent years approved a new class of weekly injectables including Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, to treat obesity.People can lose as much as 15% to 25% of their body weight on the drugs, which imitate the hormones that regulate appetites by communicating fullness between the gut and brain when people eat.But cost of the drugs has largely limited them to the wealthy.  A monthly ...

Travel: Taking a superyacht to tour the Galapagos Islands in luxury

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

By Norma Meyer, special to Southern California News GroupSunbathing Godzilla monsters clogged my path. As waves crashed against ancient lava rocks, I scrambled off an inflatable panga dinghy, regained my balance and then haphazardly side-stepped a jillion long-clawed, spiky, crusty-scaled sci-fi creatures blending into the rugged, black volcanic terrain. Like other iconic animals in these wildlife-wondrous Galapagos Islands, the marine iguanas appeared to care less about the clodhopper Homo sapiens in their midst. But then, I was a humble bystander in an eco-paradise where boobies are birds and the sexiest ones have the brightest blue feet.Marine iguanas, native to the Galapagos Islands, are horrifically endearing. These seafaring lizards were on Fernandina Island. (Photo by Norma Meyer)Primeval giant tortoises would plod slo-mo beside me. The world’s rare northernmost penguins splashed by. My heart turned mushy as I strolled alongside dozens of darling sea lion pups nursing their m...

Due date for first report by foreign interference inquiry extended to May

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:52:57 GMT

OTTAWA — A federal inquiry into foreign interference has been granted a nearly two-month extension to deliver its first report after Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue requested more time to conduct her work.Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc granted Hogue’s wish to have the report due by May 3 instead of the end of February as was previously required.LeBlanc says in a statement that opposition parties were also notified of Hogue’s request. The commissioner requested the extra time last week saying it will give “meaning and purpose” to preliminary hearings, and allow more time to maximize transparency. She added that ensuring classified information is put into a form that can be released to the public is a long and complicated process.The commission will begin holding public hearings late next month, looking at attempted meddling by China, Russia and other foreign states, as well as non-state actors, in recent Canadian elections.This report by The Canadian Pr...